Iron Coat (Bunin)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The pilgrims introduction and description of his northern homeland
The story began with a pilgrim clarifying that despite his cassock and skullcap, he was not a monk but rather a wandering servant of God. He had been roaming land and water for over five decades. The pilgrim explained that he originated from the remote northern regions of Russia, a place of ancient wilderness.
Russia there is remote, ancient, there are forests and marshes with lakes, settlements are rare. There are many beasts, the birds are without number, you can see the big-eared eagle owl... Winters are snowy and long.
Folklore about Iron Coat and the Forest demon
The pilgrim described the mystical creatures that inhabited his homeland. He explained that during summer, the wood demon whistled and played pipes in the wilderness, while drowned women appeared as mist on lakes, tempting men to fornication. Many unfortunate men succumbed to these temptations, abandoning their worldly responsibilities to spend nights with these apparitions.
There isn't a single power in the world stronger than lust – whether in a man or in a reptile, in a beast, in a bird, but most of all in a bear and in a wood demon!
According to the pilgrim, the locals called the bear "Iron Coat" and the wood demon simply "the Forest." Both creatures were known for their fierce desire for women. When a married woman or maiden went into the woods and returned pregnant, she would often claim that the Forest had overpowered her, or that Iron Coat had forced himself upon her.
The pilgrim admitted that women sometimes enticed these creatures deliberately, falling to the ground and exposing themselves. He explained that it was difficult for women to resist either the bear or the wood demon, though they risked being possessed and having fits afterward. The bear was believed to possess the ability to speak but chose not to, making such encounters particularly enticing for women.
The bear – he's both a beast and not one, and it's not for nothing our people believe he can talk, only doesn't want to. So you can understand how enticing it is for the female soul to have such a terrible coition!
The wood demon was described as even more terrifying and voluptuous. Though resembling a peasant tar-stirrer in appearance, he had blue blood that made his face dark, hairy legs, and cast no shadow in either sunlight or moonlight. Unlike his fearful reaction to men, the wood demon would approach women with dancing movements, taking them in a frenzy of passion that left them unconscious.
The narrators personal tragedy and connection to the folklore
After sharing these folk beliefs, the pilgrim revealed that his narrative was leading to his own story. He explained that he had become a wandering pilgrim due to a terrible calamity that occurred in his youth. His parents had arranged his marriage to a beautiful young woman from a wealthy and respectable peasant family.
I set off as a lonely pilgrim for the whole of my life by reason of the untold calamity that befell me at my very dawn. My parents married me to a splendid girl... a transparent little face, whiter than the first snow.
On their wedding night, his bride threw herself onto the floor beneath the icons in their bedchamber. She declared that she could not be his spouse as she had taken the marriage wreath against her will and needed to withdraw to a convent to atone for her sins. When the pilgrim questioned what sins she could have at her innocent age, she replied that only the Mother of God knew, and that she had vowed to remain pure.
Overcome by unbridled passion and angered by her resistance, the pilgrim forced himself upon her on the floor beneath the sacred icons. Only afterward did he realize she had already lost her virginity to someone else. Intoxicated, he immediately fell into a deep sleep. His wife, wearing only her undergarment, fled into the forest and hanged herself with her wedding girdle.
She, in just her undergarment, fled from the bedchamber into the forest, and there by her wedding girdle hanged herself. And when they found her there, they saw this: sitting on the snow by her slender bare feet... was a great bear.
When they discovered her body, they found a great bear sitting by her bare feet in the snow. For three days and nights afterward, the pilgrim roamed the forests, crying out in grief, but his calls could no longer reach her on earth.